Stringed musical instrument.



APPLICATION FILED M1645. I9l6.

Patented Jan. 7,1919.

m: mam: runs a. ma'mumn. 741mm.

SAMUEL IB. GRIMSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STRINGED IvIUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

Application filed August 25, 1916. Serial No. 116,779.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. GRIMsoN,

- a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in

the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certa n new and useful 1mprovements in Stringed Musical Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the characters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

The present invention relates in general to stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to a finger-board which embodies novel features of construction where by the strings can be manipulated with greater ease and less strain upon the wrist and fingers when playing the instrument.

I he two sides of the finger board are generally distinguished from each other by the terms the finger side and the thumb side, and musical melodies are produced by pressing down the strings of the instrument upon the finger board in such a way as to change their operating length, from time to time as required in order to produce the notes desired.

As such instruments have heretofore been constructed the finger board has been either evenly curved in cross section on violins and the other bowed instruments, or in the case of mandolins, etc. the finger board has been fiat and level. The result of this arrangement of the finger board is, that the fingers operating upon those strings which are nearest the thumb side of the finger board, are required to be in such position in playing, that they assume a flatter curve than when playing upon the strings near the finger side; this is, to persons having short fingers, a source of frequent difficulty in playing the instrument, and is in all cases the source of unnecessary strain upon the wrist and fingers.

The object of my invention is to preserve the classical appearance of these instruments, and at the same time to change the finger board construction in such manner that the strings on the thumb side shall be elevated, relatively, to such positions that they are reached with less strain in fingering.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is a perspective view of a violin containing my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlar ed perspective View of the finger board of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a base guitar containing my invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View of the finger board of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a mandolin containing my invention.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective View of the finger board of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a bass banjo containing my inventon.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective View of the finger board of Fig. 7.

In the views in Figs. 1 and 2, 1 is the peg box, 2 is the nut, 3 is the finger board, 3 indicates the raised part of the same, 4 is the belly, 5 is the bridge, 6, 6 are the strings, 7 is the tail piece. I

In the Figs. 3 and 4, 8 is the head, 9 is the nut, 10 is the finger board, 10 indicates the raised part of the same, 11 is the belly, 12 is the bridge, 13, 13 are the strings, 14 is the part of the bridge 12 to which the strings are attached and which is generally combined With the bridge 12.

In Figs. 5 and 6, 15 is the head, 16 is the nut. 17 is the finger board, 17 indicates the raised part of the same, 18 is the belly, 19 is the bridge, 20, 20, are the strings, 21 is the tail piece.

In Figs. 7 and 8, 22 is the head, 23 is the nut, 24 is the finger board. 24 indicates the raised part of the same, 25 is the widened part of the finger board above which to stretch the chanterelle, 26 is the belly, 27 is the bridge, 28 are the strings, 29 is the tail piece.

As'above stated, the cross section of the finger boards on bowed instruments, now in use, is substantially arch shaped, the surface curve thereof rising evenly on both sides from a plane parallel with the upper side of the neck to a point in the middle throughout its entire length, and my improvement consists in elevating or thickening that portion of the finger board which is nearest the thumb side so as to raise that edge of the arch shaped surface of the finger board which lies at the thumb side thereof. This is of the highest importance when the hand is in what is commonly known as the first position. or that position where the fingers are nearest to the nut.

In the very highest attainable position, in which the fingers are nearest to the bridge, the hand is necessarily drawn so far around the body of the instrument that the fingers operate from above the strings instead of from the side as in the first position, and as it is then not difiicult to reach the strings, the

present disposition of the arch shaped portion of the finger board is quite convenient. As the hand recedes from the bridge toward the nut, the fingers are more and more op erated from the side instead of from above, and greater difficulty is gradually encountered in reaching the low strings with the finger tips.

The construction of the finger board as shown in my invention, is such that the thumb side thereof is gradually raised from the bridge end, where it has exactly the same shape as the finger board in common use, and has its th ckest point at the nut. This construction obviates the need of any alteration in the height of the bridge or other fittings, and in no wise disturbs, alters, or impairs the quality of the sound of the instrument, and allows the performer to bow upon the strings in the position where he is now accustomed to locate them with the bow, wh le making it easier for him to stop the strings with his left hand.

The arch shaped surface of the finger board has its origin in the need to bow at times upon one string without touching the others, and this arch shaped surface is retained throughout the length of the finger board constructed according to my invention.

It is obvious that by such construction the strings nearest the thumb, side of the finger board are brought nearerto the tips of the fingers, making it possible to reach the strings with less effort and strain of the fingers and the wrist.

Inall bowed instruments the surface of the finger board is given a crescent shape, but in the plucked instruments it is allowed to remain flat. The same reasons exist for raising the thumb side of the finger board, and this according to my invention is done, by retaining the flat surface of the finger board, thickening up the thumb side of the same at the nut end, and gradually reducing the height until an even thickness is attained at the bridge end.

In the largest plucked instruments generally known as the bass guitar and bass banjo, there are on the thumb side of the finger boardone or more strings played with the thumb of the left hand. In the case of these instruments the finger board is raised from the fingeiaside to a high point between the lowest finger strirg and the h ghest thumb string. and from that point it is again gradually lowered toward the thumb side and also graduallv lowered along its length toward the bridge end. By this construction the fingers retain all the advantages heretofore mentioned, while it becomes easier for the thumb to hold the thumb strings down to the finger board. 7

Ina certain type of banjo, strings played Copics of this patent may be obtained'for the point of the finger board where the chanterelle or widened part be ins, its upper side conforms to the height of the finger board at that point and slopes therewith lengthwise only, to the end of the finger board.

It will be obvious that stringed musical instruments containing my invention will be of great advantage to all players but particularly to those whose short fingers make it ditlicult for them to play with ease upon the low strings, such players being frequently known to contract a vocational cramp as aresult of the continued strain, consequent upon reaching out with the fingers to meet-the strings: this advantage is based upon two pointsthat is the fingers are enabled to press down hammer like from above, and against a rigid support of the strings against an up \vardly inclined surface, whereas in' the old form of finger board the tips of the fingers press against the low strings on a surface inclining away from the fingers. As a further result the vibrato is also very much easier to accomplish as the fingers are relieved of the'necessity of holding the strings against lateral slipping on the finger board.

Having thus described my inventionwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stringed musical instrument including a resonant body and a neck, in combination with a finger board which has its thumb side raised at one end thereof and which giadually. decreases in thickness from the said raised portion toward the finger side and also toward the other end of the finger board.

2. A finger board for stringed musical instruments having its thumb side raised above its finger side at the nut end, and sloping gradually to the thickness of the fingerside at its other termination.

, 3. A violin provided with a finger board having its thumb side raised to a greater height than the finger side at the nut end, and sloping gradually to the thickness of the finger side at the bridge end.

SALLIE BURNS, AUGUSTUS T. GURLITZ.

five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

